BURLINGTON — While the defense was still standing strong for the Freeport Pretzels during Tuesday’s Burlington Sectional semifinal, the offense didn’t show up.

Without a goal, the Pretzels’ season came to a close with a 2-0 loss to Burlington Central. Both tallies came late in the second half of a tight battle.

“The way we came together this year, and the way we played defense in these last few games, I just wish it didn’t have to end,” senior Adam Winters, the team’s leading scorer with 14 goals, said. “That was a good team we played, and I have to hand it to them. They never stopped coming at us.”

BC (22-3) peppered shots at Freeport goalie Marcus Fitzpatrick, especially in the second half when it fired off 11 shots at or near the net in the first four minutes. Fitzpatrick, who finished with 14 saves, stuffed BC midfield Matt O’Connor with just over 15 minutes left to keep it at zeros, but Noah Jahangir fed Alan Camarena for an in-close shot that beat Fitzpatrick and broke the tie with 10:29 left in the game.

AJ Couriotis scored again for the hosts with 2:42 left, sending Freeport (8-14-1) home for the offseason.

“This one is a stinger. It’s a tough one to handle because we felt like we were ready for a deep postseason run,” Fitzpatrick said. “We could’ve kept this going, and it hurts that we didn’t.”

Freeport dropped its final three regular-season games before going on the postseason roll. Neither opponent at regionals scored on the Pretzel defense, but like last year, the Pretzels made it to sectionals before bowing out.

“We’ve got no regrets. This team played its best soccer when it needed to, and there is nothing disappointing about the way this team finished,” Freeport coach Nick Namio said. “We just never got one to fall in tonight, and they were all over us. But we fought, we did everything we could, and I’m proud.”

In the second semifinal, Wheaton Academy (20-3-1) rolled over Belvidere (10-17) by a 7-0 tally to advance to Friday’s sectional final, where it will face BC.